Codex of The Past
by Wangan
Summary: It was once said that a world existed before our own. One not of peace but certainly of progress. Of ideas echoed in our own, shadows of thoughts, ideas, and plans that exist only in the memories of a few. Maybe there is a point to those long lost memories buried in the minds of those deserving. Maybe there isn't...


_AN: Well, this is being posted on two sites thus confirming my connection between the two. If any of you want the Version with pictures head over to AO3. Title and description is still the same._

XXX

I sit, legs crossed as I meditate. The wind rushes overhead making the leaves of the trees around me dance their nosy dance. It was a nice peaceful counter-note to the growls that were slowly surrounding me. Heavy thumps of clawed paws, the earthy sound of dirt separating before thick knife-like claws, a feral rumbling that promised safety in death.

Safety.

That word had no meaning outside the walls the havens known as cities. It wasn't really a secret that when anyone stepped out of those walls, not matter if it was for five minutes or five years, there was always the possibility for it to be a permanent stay. Even in the forests just outside Vale, less than half a mile away, I was being accosted by grimm and I hadn't even been still for ten minutes. The Grimm were indeed the enemy of all sapient life on the planet and they acted like it. They were walking natural disasters, though I'm sure I'd be hard pressed to find any respected scientist that would ever call those creatures natural.

Yet here I was, relaxed as one could be, facing down what sounded like a pack of the most prolific killers that have ever existed and I'm not scared. No, that's a lie. I'm not as scared as I SHOULD be. I open my eyes to take stock. There are three wolves in front of me, approaching me in a reverse triangle formation. That actually surprises me for a moment until I notice the one at the 'point' of it has a few scars on it's body as well as a single crack across the mask snout. This one has some experience and no doubt is the reason I haven't been swarmed yet.

The other two are the closest to me and seem to be eager to have a go at me, bouncing and growling and digging their claws in preparation to lunge.

I keep my eyes on them as I hear more sounds behind me. No doubt the rest of the pack is ready to go for my back.

As the pack begins to close in, I stand up and draw **Sketch** from it's sheath, **Charcoal** with one hand and press the com in my ear with the other. "Now."

Before the single syllable had time to fade to the air, I heard the whizzing of a bullet pass over my head and it struck the wolf grimm slightly to my left in it's hulking shoulder. It let's out a roar of pain as it hits the ground and the other two within my sight turn to look at its comrade for the briefest of seconds.

Enough time for me. I lunge forward with all the speed I can muster. Within each stride, I change my grip, pommel facing the target . The one on the right is the first to recover and it swipes at me with a hasty claw. It's not aimed well and I duck under it as I charge past. I hear another bullet and the meaty thwack of it's impact as I come within range of the scarred grimm.

We're almost shoulder to beastly shoulder when I swing for it's throat.

This Gimm was faster than it's late partner and it's claws catch my blade.

I twist my wrist, sword sliding from it's grip and I catch it down it's arm.

Annoyingly, the cut was shallow, inconsequential and it shows, the grimm growls at me barely bothered, jaws open to go for my head. I step back just as it's bite snaps shut in front of my nose, it's breath is unnaturally cool against my skin. It lunges at me again, trying to use it's superior height to close the distance.

I forced the tingling sensation of my scales down as I turn the blade in my hands. Uppercutting the pommel up into it's jaw, it's entire momentum comes to a stop.

My arm trembles a little from it's sheer weight as all it's power goes right back into the source.

It's not so much a crunch than a squish that comes from the impact, blood spattering the ground and my armor before quickly evaporating. It's jaw looks little more than a piece of black furred roadkill or a loose flap of bloody clothing.

With a gurgled growl/yelp, it falls to the side and I bring Sketch down into it's skull. There's no resistance as the top half of it's head bounces to the ground.

At once, it's like a dam breaks and the Grimm that still had yet to emerge into the clearing flood at me in a mess of limbs and howls. And thus we get to the crux of the wolves weakness. Their pack mentality or rather…their suicidal pack mentality. Encounter one wolf and it's careful. It's observant and will pick away at it's prey then retreat as fast as it can. Grimm were by nature, relentless hunters. Waiting to tire you down and strike once you have nothing left.

A good strategy.

Until you gave them numbers. Enough of them gather and they instead rush you, Trying to accomplish in seconds what would take one of them hours. Which was when they got stupid.

In a blink, a shadowed blur comes from the trees to the left. Cherri, in a shower of leaves and broken branches leaps in next to me, fires and three out of the mass drop. The dog faunus gives me one of her cool blank half-smiles, twirls her revolvers around in her fingers, and we charge in shoulder to shoulder.

Once again, a few more streaks comes from far in the distance and clothesline several more Wolves just before I get into striking distance.

I refrain from giving the shooter a thumbs up (like he would see it) and prepare to destroy the enemy before me.

"Well, that was a mess." I get a blank look from Cherri for my words, her eyes saying 'No duh.' I can't help it though. Even though we took down the largest pack of Grimm we've encountered to date, that hadn't been the plan. The original plan had been for me to play bait while Ray got a chance to test the new weapon Cherri had made. I don't think any of us expected smart Grimm.

"Could've gone better." Cherri clips as she adjusts the sleeves of her coveralls. We wait for another minute or two before our third wheel finally shows up. She wastes no time as another form breaks through the thicket of the forest. "Good or no?"

"Good as always." Still, even without the huge smile on Ray's face as he joins us in the clearing, the results speak for the bat faunus. The staff-rifle in his hands swipes back and forth across the ground stopping a few inches away from my toes and tilts head that tells me he's looking right at us. "Pulls a little to left though."

Ah, that explains the first shot to the shoulder. Cherri shakes her head at that, lips tight in an unhappy gaze. "Unacceptable. Will fix as soon as we return home."

"Hey, I didn't say it was bad." Ray says pushing his sunglasses up on his nose as Cherri grabs his hand and leads him off towards the trail we took to get here. "Just that it's a little-"

In an instant and with no warning, he raised his weapon in a direction off to the left and fired. The clip popped out with a sharp 'PING', followed by the low yelping note of another wolf. "…Off."

"It can be corrected." Cherri doesn't miss a step or a beat.

I roll my eyes as I follow. He knew better than that. When it came to Cherri, perfection wasn't just a word to strive for, it was the end all be all for everything she made. Pointing out there was the smallest issue with her inventions was like letting someone know they have food in their teeth…two hours into a date. Only with more severe consequences. Cherri was no doubt going to dress him down with every question she could think of about the weapon. His skill set was unique enough for him to qualify for such.

"Can do better." Her cheeks are flushed as she all but drags Ray behind her. It's easy to pick up on the frustration in her voice and judging by the twitch on his face Ray is only now realizing what he stepped in. OH, he's going to be in for it.

He tilts his head in my direction, silently pleading for help.

I shrug. "You opened that box, you close it."

"How heartless." He puts a hand to his heart, letting out a mock injured gasp. "You won't help a poor helpless blind man who's at the cruel mercies of a mean woman, Iv?"

"Exaggeration. You're not poor nor are you helpless." Which was true. Ray hid it well. Hell, Cherri didn't really need to hold his hand along this trail. There was no doubt in my mind that he'd already managed to memorize it on the trip over. The leading was more out of Cherri's frustration than anything.

A pause of silence as we march. "Nor am I mean." She adds almost as an afterthought and the red shade of her face gets a little redder. At the rate he's going Cherri will be expecting a full dossier and notecards. Not even Ma's going to calm her down if he keeps going.

Now this would've been the point where, had I been in Ray's shoes, I'd have given up and accepted the mountain-like questionnaire that was in my immediate future. I, however, was not Ray and if anyone could put a foot in their mouth it was him. So he begins to dig a hole. "Wait! What about that…uh…that thing you have Ivory drive? Why doesn't she get this treatment?"

I do. I just don't complain about it. In fact, we all do it to each other. Cherri stops, letting go of Ray's hand, red hair bobbing as she does. "Thing has a name. XJS-prototype. Inferior tools. Inferior materials. Inferior quality. Only fuel mixture is perfect to calculations." Her face gets redder and she grips her hands into fists, as if those words are physically painful to say. "Can't do better with vehicle. Can do better with weapon."

Ray, finally getting the point, kept his mouth shut for the rest of the trip back to the main road to Vale. At least that was what I would say until he started humming. It was, of course, a tune I'd never heard before. So for the next 15 minutes, his song was the ambiance of our walk.

When the car came into view, we immediately took up our usual positions. After all, our car may have been a piece of junk but it Cherri would string us up if she wasn't allowed to do proper maintenance to make sure we got back into Vale.

Holstering her guns, she flicked her fingers in the air and her toolbox came, materializing in her hands. Her semblance coming into effect, the toolbox opens and the tools rise into the air at her command.

With another flick of her finger, the hood of the car rises and exposes the engine and she gets too work.

Ray, still humming, moved to the other side of the vehicle to stay out of her way, leaned up against it and began his watch. Ears flicking from side to side.

Removing my sword from it's sheath, I hop onto the roof, settle myself in and begin to clean my blade.

I don't really have to as Grimm blood evaporates to nothing like the bodies but it's a pleasing cathartic action. For the same reason Cherri tinkers and Ray hums, it clears the mind and gives me time to think.

And almost immediately my fingers begin to itch for a pen as ideas that I know aren't my own begin to filter into my mind. I have to clench the cloth to keep them from twitching. In all honesty, I'm a little jealous that Cherri has the distraction of the engine to keep her busy. I know for a fact that Ray is feeling the same as his humming has now evolved into half-mumbled, half-sung words.

"…ake me up wh…" is all I really catch before I go back into my thoughts. One of the stray thoughts bouncing around my head stands out.

A boy with a destiny.

A scar.

Magic.

I shake my head in frustration as I try to focus on those details and get more from it. Instead of becoming clearer, even the vague idea slips from my mental grasp like sand.

Just as the idea fades into the cracks, I hear Ray suck in a breath through his teeth and softly curse. It's not even a hard guess. "Inspiration?"

"Shouldn't of tried to memorize it." He nods his head, frowning a little. "Yeah. Was just getting the words before I lost it."

'Inspiration' was what we called these moments. There was little warning when they came. Most of the time we never really caught ourselves falling into them unless we're paying close attention and if we were they would leave just as quickly. When that happened it leave an unsatisfied buzz in the back of your skull. The equivalent of a kink in your back that you can't quite get out unless you stretched the right way. In my case, I needed to stretch on a piece of paper.

"Done." Cherri says closing the hood and sending her tools away with a wave of her hand. "Let's go."

I'm actually happy to hear that as I look up at the sky. It wasn't going to get dark anytime soon but the sun was well into it's westward journey and I had something to write.

I get off the roof and into the driver's seat. Cherri allows Ray to squeeze into the back before she gets in next to me, pulling a small notebook out of her front pocket.

The engine starts with a sickly screeching sounding chug that rings out in the cool air I watch as the homemade gauges as the needles set themselves. Engine warming… good. Fluid pressure…fine. Fuel…topped off to the cap.

Dipping the clutch with my toe and shift into first gear which takes more force than I expect. unusual resistance the stick put up as he tested each gear. The gearbox wasn't ready yet and took note of what gear needed to be fine-tuned later.  
Cherri had put me through so many tests and reviews over every detail of this 'XJS' that I knew it almost as well as she did.

5.3 liter V12 engine.

6-speed manual.

Other stuff she'd remind me of later. In short, I knew that, while the transmission was a little stiff it could handle a bit of a thrash on the way home without snapping its teeth.

By then it's too late. Cherri, always the sharp one, notices my hesitation and lifts an eyebrow, looking away from her notebook, "What is the matter?"

I try to pass my hesitation off as I notch the stick into first. "Nothing. Just got to tune the gearbox later."

"That is not nothing." She murmurs. "What's the problem? The clutch? The stick?"

I know that tone far too well. Without looking I knew her eyes were tracing the insides, analyzing every square centimeter of the car for another weakness that might make itself apparent. Working herself up for nothing. Well, actually not for entirely nothing this thing was held together by the mechanical equivalent of duct tape and string.

"The stick. It's a little stiff going into first." I amend, trying to calm her down as I lift off the clutch.

"Need more detail. Will ask later." She dips her nose back into her notebook and starts scribbling away, clearly done with the conversation for now. The car pulls forward and I press on the accelerator. Oh boy, she was already writing out a test for me now, wasn't she?

"Stop it." I snap over my shoulder.

"Stop what?" is the response I get from the back. I can feel the bat faunus' smug smile burning into the back of my head. I look into the rearview mirror and his face is still save for the twitching corners of his mouth.

"You know exactly what."

That aside, the drive back to Vale was as slow going and quiet at the march to the car. It was out of necessity. I had to concentrate very hard to drive this thing effectively, especially on the dirt paths that led back to the gates. There was a whole bargain bins worth of problems with the prototype. First, the ride was awful. Didn't matter if we rolled over a pot hole or a pebble, the car would bounce any feedback right into the spine of your seat.

Speaking of, the seats could barely be even called that. They were hand made wooden and pillow hybrid monstrosities that even a coma patient would complain about.

Third, the steering was heavy yet vague. I never quite knew what the front wheels were doing unless it was moving. Which of course, led to several near misses and 'almost' accidents when I'd first learned how to drive thing. I'd gotten used to it the best I could. Still didn't allow me to relax though.

Fourth and finally, this type of vehicle was clearly not meant for the abuse of the rural trails. Slowly I drive, trying not to hiss at the bumps and almost painful sounding scraping over bumps and dips in the trail. I top no more that five mph, and even that's pushing it. It takes almost an hour of methodical driving and bouncing before things begin to smooth out enough that I can pick up speed without putting us in a tree.

"Christ." Ray pipes up from the back. From the look on his face in the rearview he's ready to hurl at any moment. That expression is even worse than his smug one. Yeah, these rides were never really kind to him. "That seemed even longer than usual."

"I know, right?" I mumble, glancing to my side at our mechanic.  
Even Cherri's usual blank look seems slightly unsettled, a hand pressed against her stomach but she says nothing.

"Well, we're almost there." I say, the distant walls of Vale having grown close enough to pierce the forest around us. I shift to third gear and open it up a little, picking us speed.

Finally, we reach the gate and immediately I see Cherri's blank expression darken. As we roll up, I see why and my own mood is soured.

Our first experience with the police was about the same as most young faunus growing up in any big city. Negative. Well, that's not entirely true. We get along as well as one can with the cops…by avoiding them like the plague. They pay no attention to us as long as we don't attract it. That however didn't spare us from having one thorn in that plan, that irritated whenever it could.

That thorn was an officer by the name of Sal Smoke. A fat aging, cop stereotype, that had a gut that told a story of too many donuts, a smoking habit that lived up to his name and the breath to show for it.

Our first meeting had been at the wall about a two years ago shortly after we'd arrived in Vale. That time he'd let us through with no ceremony beyond a sarcastic 'Good luck', no doubt expecting us to be dead before sun down. The look on his face when we came back that day set the stage for all future interactions.

However, the past hardly matters because of the now.

The guard's changed shift while we were gone and Sal Smoke's form is easily recognizable among the other guards as he's the only guard I've ever seen that so... Let's say overweight to be nice. So much so that I'm sure he's two steps away from a heart attack every time I see him and his expression all but screams that he's not too happy to be here as he leans at his post.

The shift change we expected.

Sal being here, we didn't. "He never works the evening." I say, looking over at Cherri. "The hell's he doing here?"

"Oh fuck me." I hear Ray groan from the back. He knows exactly who I'm talking about. "Just when I thought our day was going to be nice."

"His plans changed." Cherri says before taking a deep breath. "Ours does not. Let's go."

We come to a stop at the gate as a guard signals us to stop and Officer Smoke, his attention previously on some small book in his hands, looks at us and a smile spreads on his fat round face.

It's thoroughly unpleasant to look at.

Standing up straight, he swaggers over to the passenger side window and looks at us individually.

First to Cherri.

Then me.

And finally Ray.

When his eyes fall on Ray, his lip twitches slightly before turning back to me. "Surprise inspection." He rumbles in his low growly, smoke damaged voice. I can smell his breath from here. "Turn it off 'n get out." He finishes with blowing his cigarette smoke right into Cherri's face before flicking the lit stub right at Ray.

I know he 'sees' it coming but he let's it bounce off his chest and onto the floor anyway. The officer sneers at his non-reaction and I'm ever so tempted to slam the butt of my sword into his mouth.

One of the other guards comes up to my door as I cut the engine, hand hovering over his standard issue pistol. A clear and present warning. "Step out, slowly."

I am the first one to get out. As soon as I open the door, I raise my hands to make sure that they are as far away from my sword as possible. Just in case.

Things had been tense as of late and while I partially blame Smoke for his consistent attempts to find something he could make stick to us, his bigoted actions were now seen as legitimate as nasty as that is to think about.

Before things were looser here in Vale. You didn't really have to be worried about being watched or followed. Harassed from time to time sure but never really worried about your safety. Even back then Officer Smoke was little more than an annoyance.

However, no one really counted on the White Fang. Those fucking idiots would've done less damage if they shot every faunus on the planet in the foot.

One derailed train in the Forever Fall later and shit hit the fan.

And for us that Sal was the shit to our fan.

Our weapons are confiscated and we're lined up against the wall, Ray being roughly led by the shoulder from another officer as the head inspector starts to look through our car.

"So," Sal begins, pulling a pack of cigs out of his pocket as he starts to pace in front of us. "What are you doing out here?"

Cherri answers for us because she knows that bigots and I don't get along and Ray is too much of a smart aleck for his own good. "Hunting Grimm, sir."

Sal pauses like he wasn't quite sure he heard her right. "I'm sorry?"

"Hunting Grimm, sir."

There's a moment of silence before Sal starts chuckling. "You hear that?" He turns to another officer. "These farm animals were out huntin'." The guard he's speaking to chuckles in turn.

The slur makes me twitch but luckily no one really notices. If they did…Well, I don't really want to think about it. Sal turns back to us. "Not that I don't believe you but…" He puts a cig in his mouth and lights it. "I don't believe you. Not when you got some blind cripple with you. Unless you're talkin' out of your ass."

He says the same thing every time. We've interacted enough that he should know Ray is blind. Doesn't change the fact that he likes to 'test' if he's faking or not.

He stops his pacing right in front of Ray, who's making a slight show of his blindness. Tilting his ear slightly in the direction of Sal, who subsequently steps up and gives him a hard shove. With a surprised grunt, the Ray bounces off the wall but stays on his feet.

Even though I knew it was coming, Smoke's test has me clenching my jaw and the tingling of my scales starts to build and I can see the lines of frustration on Ray's face barely being held back. If we so much as stepped out of line now, Sal would have a reason to bring one of us in. That was, of course, his goal. To goad us. It never changed.

"We are telling the-"

Quick as a flash, Sal cuts Cherri off, drawing his baton and poking her in the chest with it. "Speak when spoken to." He snarls, face turning a slight red. "Understand me, barnyard?"

She nods. He smiles, going back to pacing while spinning the baton in his hands. "Now, we won't be finding any…" His pauses for intimidating effect. "contraband, will we?"

Not that you won't do your damnedest to find some.

We aren't sure who he's addressing so we stay silent.

That seems to be the right move as he continues on. "Or any masks?" This time he's looking straight at me. Like I'd ever associate myself with them.

"No, sir. We have not nor will ever have relations with the White Fang." Just saying their name makes me want to gag.

His eyes narrow at my response and he swings around to the inspector. "Anything yet?"

"No, sir." By now they had worked their way from the engine bay to the cab of the car, using flashlights to look under the seats. Good, they were almost half way done.

Still, I was nervous. They were really looking for…something, anything really that can be twisted into some reason the bring us in for questioning and it wouldn't be beyond their ability to plant something in there.

Sal scoffs. " . Now."

I slowly reach into my pocket and pull out my wallet. The others do the same and we hand them over to Sal.

He snatches each one our of our hands and barely looks at the inside before reaching in, taking the Lien inside each one before tossing them at our feet. None of us react to the blatant theft nor do the officers, some of whom are looking away from us or paying close attention to a random scuff in the wall. He begins to flip through the meager stack of bills, counting them before nodding his head. "Papers seem to be in order."

Sal pockets the money and with a heavy breath, blows a thick puff of smoke right into my face. I grip my thigh as hard as I can to keep the rage that's causing my skin and scales to tingle under control. I don't need to loose it here. Keep it under control. I pick up the wallets and hand each back to my friends before I pocket my own.

He continues to pace and twirling his baton until finally the inspector finishes.

The frustration of the inspector is plain to see as he makes his way over. Either its for his wasted time or because he didn't hit the jackpot. "Nothing, sir."

"You hear that?" Sal looks over to us, smug as ever. "You're free to go."

Cherri makes a clipped but respectful bow. "Thank you, sir." Ray and I bow as well, though he does it in the wrong direction. It's the only way he can reasonably rebel at this moment.

"Move along, beasts." One of the guard snips at us as we are allowed to go back to the car, Sal following close behind us.

Just as I start the engine, Sal comes up to the window. "Oh, by the way, you've got a flat."

As if on cue, one of the other guard's marches up from behind the car with a knife in hand and stabs it right into the rear left tire. "Better get that fixed or we'll have to ticket you."

As the air leaves the tire and the car begins to dip I hear Cherri inhale. It's a quiet, sharp sound and I know in my heart she's barely holding it together. This vehicle is her baby. Damaging it was a more personal injury to her than any blow.

I grip the wheel hard enough that I hear the material audibly strain. The anger must've finally shown on my face because Smoke leans a little bit closer to me, all smiles and yellow teeth. "Try it." His breath washes over my face and I know that a training dummy will be suffering as soon as I get home. "I dare you."

With a saint's amount of effort, I just look at him and put on the most forced smile I've ever plastered on my face, almost tasting blood as I speak. "Thank you, sir. We will do that as soon as possible."

Much to my great satisfaction, the smile melts off of the piss-poor excuse of a police officer's face. Like a bad one night stand, We're both going to leave disappointed.

As we are finally rolling into Vale my knuckles are practically white against the steering wheel. I check the rearview just in time to see the gates close behind us and Ray flipping the inspector the bird from the backseat. "Should've broke his nose." I agree. Would it 've been worth it in the long run? No, but satisfying as hell in the moment.

"And they break us in return." Cherri has gone completely still, which isn't good. While she could never be mistaken as hyperactive, she was more often than not, in motion in some small way. Writing her notes or, whenever we were in the car, monitoring the gauges. Now though, she barely moves as she speaks. "Weaponless. Claim we resisted arrest."

"Yeah, they had us in a bind." I sigh before putting a hand on Cherri's shoulder. It's the most comfort I can provide and she leans into it slightly, taking another deep breath and though she tires to hide it, I cane see the faint glimmer of a tear rolling down her face. I keep rubbing her back all the way home.

Fuck you, Smoke.


End file.
